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Actually, I think I probably took it a bit too much for
granted. John says the world does not know us. I wonder whether
WE know us. Perhaps we would do well to dig out the family album
and look at the pictures we find there.
Here is one. Recent. From the paper just the other day.
It is of an ornately dressed gentleman, bespectacled, smiling
broadly, with a red skull cap perched on the back of his head.
His name is John Cardinal O'Conner, the spiritual leader of more
than two-million Roman Catholics in the New York Archdiocese,
until his death this week at 80 years of age.(1) On hearing of the
Cardinal's passing Billy Graham said, "The Church has lost a
great warrior and the country has lost a great patriot who will
long be remembered. He was a bold and courageous man who stood
firmly for what he believed."
A man of strong convictions and deep faith, the archbishop
held tightly to the teachings of the Catholic Church. He marched
against abortion and criticized any Catholic politicians who
supported abortion rights. But he also vigorously denounced
violence. He went on the Internet in 1995 to field questions
about clinic bombings and said, "If anyone has an urge to kill
anybody at an abortion clinic, he should kill me instead."
The Cardinal opposed homosexuality and objected to gay
Catholics marching in New York's annual St. Patrick's Day parade.
But in his homily one Sunday when a Gay Pride Parade was to pass
in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral, he warned the congregation,
"Please do not believe for a moment that you would be defending
the Church or advancing Church teachings by expressions of
hatred."
Although O'Connor was adamant in equating gay and lesbian
lifestyles with biblical sin, former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo
once said of him, "No place in the country are they working more
aggressively to help AIDS patients than in the archdiocese. The
cardinal is not getting the credit for this, and he should."
O'Connor campaigned against the death penalty. He was a
prominent advocate for disabled people and those living in
poverty. He personally intervened to help settle industrial
disputes by pressing for workers' rights. He once told friend
and biographer Nat Hentoff, "If I were simply saying Mass and
going through the ordinary Catholic rituals and that's all I did,
I shouldn't be here." The church, he said, should be part of
everyday life.
Just a few weeks ago President Clinton signed legislation
awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to the ailing cardinal for
his service to the nation. "For more than 50 years, Cardinal
O'Connor has served the Catholic Church and our nation with
consistency and commitment," the President said. "Whether it was
the soldier on the battlefield or the patient dying of AIDS,
Cardinal O'Connor has ministered with a gentle spirit and a
loving heart. Through it all, he has stood strong as an advocate
for the poor, a champion for workers and an inspiration for
millions."
John Cardinal O'Conner. Child of God. Obvious, right? Not
to everyone. As the controversy around Governor Bush's visit to
Bob Jones University a few weeks ago reminded us, there are still
some Christians who refuse to recognize any branch of the family
other than their own. Sad.
But before we jump too hard on our ultra-conservative
cousins, perhaps we should turn the page in the family album.
Here is another recent photo. It was on the front page of
Monday's paper. It shows a familiar face, but with hair somewhat
thinner than we remember. In earlier days his photographs showed
him as a bit boyish, a smile that always seemed too wide for his
face, and accompanied by a poster girl for Max Factor, Esteé
Lauder, and Revlon all rolled into one. It is Jim Bakker, the
disgraced former televangelist who went to jail for bilking his
PTL faithful out of millions.
Few names have inspired more snickers in or out of the
church in recent years than Jim Bakker. In his hey-day, he
elicited equal parts commendation and condemnation. His health
and wealth theology was the good news that many wanted to
believe, and thousands loved him for teaching it. But those of
us who had to hear about it from starry-eyed parishioners were
regularly distressed at having to explain (and ever so gently)
how unbiblical such a gospel really was. When this modern-day
Elmer Gantry got his come-up-ance, more than a few of us
(including me) said an inward hallelujah.
So saying, few people got any pleasure out of the public
wrangling over which pious promoter would get control of the PTL
empire after Jim's downfall - that made all Christians look
foolish. Nor did we feel any joy seeing the TV film of a
weeping, half-crazed shell of a man being led off to jail in
shackles. He deserved to pay a penalty for what he had done, but
the 45-year sentence originally handed down was excessive - he
eventually only spent five years behind bars. It was all very
sad.
Since his release from prison in 1994, Jim has kept a lower
profile than in his pre-conviction days. He turns down 99-percent of the speaking invitations he gets, he says, but last
Sunday, as a favor to a former PTL singer who is now the minister
of music just down the road at Christ Covenant Church, he came to
town. "I decided I would never step into public life again, but
God had another plan for me," said Bakker during his 90-minute
sermon. His message: God is the God of second chances, and Jim
himself is living proof.(2)
Still, there is lingering cynicism about Jim Bakker. I
admit some persists in me. Then our text jumps out at me -
"children of God." That means Jim Bakker and I are brothers.
And then another text from I John comes popping into my mind:
"Those who say, 'I love God,' and hate their brothers or sisters,
are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom
they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen."(3)
Jim Bakker. Child of God. God bless you, Brother. And
forgive me for taking so long to acknowledge that you and I are
family.
Turn the page in the album. Here is another recent photo.
The cover of the current issue of Newsweek. A group of teens
with skirts too short, pants too low, and hair too weird pictured
in front of school lockers for a special report dealing with
"God, Sex, Race & the Future: What Teens Believe."(4) Interesting
stuff. Listen:
That is good to remember. We are an eclectic bunch. This
family album has pictures of young and old, rich and poor,
married and single, red and yellow, black and white. There are
Democrats and Republicans, pro-life and pro-choice, gay and
straight. There is the guy in dreadlocks and the guy with the
flat top. There is the sweet young thing with a big school ring
on her finger and the sweet young thing with little rings through
her nose and navel. Can we deal with that? Before you quickly
say YES, be aware that we do not have a good track record in
dealing with our diversity. That is why we have no photographs
of Cardinal O'Conner at Bob Jones University or Jim Bakker at a
Presbyterian General Assembly. Christians who disagree are not
in the habit of being particularly civil to each other. We need
to do better.
So saying, that is NOT the point of this message. Actually,
I would hope that could go without saying. Mark Twain said once
that the church is a place where a nice respectable person stands
in front of other nice, respectable people and urges them to be
nicer and more respectable. I hope we offer more than that, and
the "more" today is to encourage seeing all the diversity we have
as a cause for celebration. The children of God were not made
with a cookie cutter and there is no need for the church to try
to remold them all in some more homogeneous image. In fact, what
we are is going to change anyway. Our lesson says so: "Beloved,
we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been
revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will
be like him, for we will see him as he is." We are in for a
treat!
Years ago G. K. Chesterton observed, "The [person] who lives
in a small community lives in a much larger world...The reason is
obvious. In a large community we can choose our companions. In
a small community our companions are chosen for us."(5) Just like
a family.
Precisely! Given a choice, we associate with folks just
like ourselves, even under the steeple, which is why 11:00
o'clock Sunday morning remains the most segregated hour in
America. We find a certain comfort in sharing the pews with
people who generally look like, act like, dress like, worship
like, live like us. And we especially feel more comfortable with
people who sin like us.
But, remember that old dictum, you can pick your friends but
not your relatives. God's children, your sister or brother, are
not those who necessarily look like you, act like you, believe
like you, worship like you. Your brother and sister may not be
on the same side of the political fence as you, may not be in the
same denomination as you, may not be interested in the same
causes as you, and may not even understand God as you do.(6) Your
brother or sister may challenge you. There are shortcomings on
both sides. But that is the nature of a family. Sometimes
dysfunctional, but still family.
This is God's wonderful gift. In Jesus Christ, we were not
made friends (although many of us are), we were made family -
children of God. Cardinal O'Conner, Bob Jones, Jim Bakker, our
terrifying teens, you, and you, and you, and you. Even the
occasional aging preacher. "Red and yellow, black and white,
They are precious in his sight."
"See what love the Father has given us, that we should be
called children of God; and that is what we are." Now, smile
pretty. This picture is going in the family album.
Amen!
1. Biographical material from CNN online,
http://www.cnn.com/2000/US/05/04/cardinal.oconnor.obit/index.html 2. Margaret Moffett Banks, "Bakker extols forgivess, pitches book-tape deal," Greensboro
News & Record, 5/1/00, A1 3. 1 John 4:20 4. May 8, 2000, pp. 52-74 5. Quoted by Philip Yancey, "Why I Don't Go to a Megachurch," Christianity Today.
5/20/96, p. 80 6. "Radical Chick," Homiletics, May, 2000, p. 17
The unsung story of today's teenagers may be how
religious or spiritual they are. "We're witnessing a
new revival of religion," says Conrad Cherry, director
of the Center for Study of Religion and American
Culture at Indiana University/Purdue University. Prayer
circles and faith-based groups like True Love Waits or
Fellowship of Christian Athletes have proliferated in
high schools and college campuses like so many WWJD
bracelets; Christian rock festivals and CDs rival their
secular counterparts, bringing the message out of the
pulpit and into the mosh pit and tattoo tent. Three
decades after the rebels of the baby boom appeared to
run away from organized religion, "a lot more teenagers
are becoming more willing to say, 'Hey, I'm a
Christian'," says 16-year-old Jacintha Bavaro, who
sings in the choir of her Roman Catholic church in Glen
Ellyn, Ill. Jacintha's mother, Laura, concurs. "They
talk about it and seem a lot more into it than when I
was a teenager," she says. "We used to pretend we were
going to church and go to Dunkin' Donuts."
Well, kids still love Dunkin' Donuts (as you can learn most
any Sunday by wandering into our Senior Hi Class), but they also
love their church, and that is wonderful. True, the dress is
different, the hair is different, the tattoos and pierced body
parts are definitely different. Yes, this family album has some
strange photographs. But they are family. "See what love the
Father has given us, that we should be called children of God;
and that is what we are."
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